She spent Christmas Day at the Tembisa police station to help with obtaining Chauke's DNA samples for tests.

On March 2016, the DNA results linked Chauke to 16 other cases where women were attacked, raped and robbed.

Ngwenya had to reopen most of the cases that had been closed because police could not trace the suspect.

Most of the victims had also changed their contact numbers and moved out of Gauteng. She tracked them all with the help of Home Affairs.

Their locations ranged from Venda in Limpopo to Senekal in the Free State. It took Ngwenya four months to track down all the victims.

"Some of the victims were married and they had not disclosed their ordeals to their husbands.

"Some felt that the incidents happened a long time ago and they did not want to open old wounds. I worked very hard to convince them otherwise. I promised them that their husbands will never know and I kept my word," she said.

"The brutality and cruelty used in these cases affected me emotionally but I was more determined to solve the case.

"I never dreamt about being a police officer but now there is no place I would rather be."